Cutting platforms using conveyor belts (also known as “Draper platforms” or “Drapers”) are typically used to harvest non-row crops such as wheat. They typically use reciprocating knife cutters to cut the crop material and separate it from the ground. In the most common configuration, these reciprocating knife cutters include a plurality of individual knives that are mounted on a reciprocating bar that is supported in another bar called a cutter bar. The cutter bar is fixed to the frame and the reciprocating bar with its knives are reciprocated to cut the crop material.
In one arrangement (shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/366,035, filed Mar. 2, 2006 and assigned to Deere & Company, the assignee of the present invention) two reciprocating knife cutters are mounted to the front of the cutting platform and are driven by a common drive located at the front and center of the cutting platform. The description does state that the drive may be located elsewhere.
It would be preferable to couple the ends of the cutter bars together to permit some relative motion while constraining other relative motion between the ends so the cutter bars do not bind or wear excessively.
It is an object of this invention to provide a reciprocating knife cutter system that provides this constrained relative movement.